VS5 Episode 2: The Gathering Storm
by andrewjameswilliams
Summary: Liam and Augur begin digging into the ANA's database.


****

The Gathering Storm

Augur's Lair

Augur stood frozen in place, gaping at the man who had just stepped out of the lift into his home. He could barely believe what his eyes were telling him. Could it really be Liam? It sure looked like him and sounded like him. But they'd seen him die - or had the regeneration chamber somehow escaped the pyroclastic fury of Mount Karmenikov's eruption.

"Liam," he breathed. "Is it really you?" Liam inclined his head and gave Augur a very confused look.

"Of course it's me Augur," Liam replied. "What kind of question is that? And before you ask I'm not a ghost."

A still disbelieving Augur took a couple of quick steps over and cautiously reached out a hand to touch his friend. He had to be sure that it was Liam and that he wasn't hallucinating. Liam allowed the contact. Joy flooded through Augur as he felt warm flesh. Without hesitation he enveloped Liam in a bear hug. Although caught by surprise by Augur's action Liam returned the hug.

"I thought we'd lost you kid," Augur said softly in Liam's ear before pulling back. "When we saw Karmenikov erupt the way it did we thought that…"

"…That the regeneration chamber had been destroyed," Liam finished. "No it wasn't destroyed Augur. Multidimensional force fields prevented the magma from entering the chamber. The chamber was damaged by the earthquakes and it was unbelievably hot and very very noisy but other than that we were fine."

"The Taelons and Jaridians?"

"The Jaridians perished," Liam admitted. "Ma'el underestimated the incompatibilities that now exist between Taelon and Jaridian DNA. But their sacrifice has not been in vain and may yet save the rest of their race as well as the Taelons."

"Somehow I doubt the Jaridians will see it that way."

"Maybe they will maybe they won't."

"What about you Liam," Augur asked. "Are you okay."

"I'm fine Augur, nothing broken or anything. The energy pool did have some effects on me that I didn't anticipate. But you can bet that my father did."

"What kind of effects?" 

"It reactivated the Kimera part of my DNA," Liam answered. "I'm a hybrid again." Augur blinked startled by that revelation. Yet he also noticed something else, something in Liam's tone of voice when he said that he was a hybrid again. Was it relief?

"You don't sound upset by that," he pointed out. "I thought you liked being Human."

"I did. But at the same time I didn't. After I renounced my heritage to save the mothership from that dark matter asteroid I didn't feel right after that. I didn't feel like me. Though I didn't like to admit it even to myself my Kimera side was an integral part of who I am. When it was gone I just didn't feel like me. Now that my Kimera side is back I feel like myself for the first time in months and for perhaps the first time in my life I'm comfortable with it."

"Yes I can see it in your eyes," Augur replied with a smile he was glad that finally Liam seemed to be accepting who and what he was.

"Do you have a problem with this?"

"What! Of course I don't have a problem with you being a hybrid. I never have had a problem with it and you know it. Renee and Jonathan might have - but that was because of their own petty prejudice against anything that they didn't really understand. You should be who and what you are kid not what others want you to be."

Liam smiled slightly at Augur's words. He wasn't at all surprised by them, it was true the Augur - like Da'an - had never had a problem with his Kimera side and had both encouraged him to be who he was and not what others wanted him to be.

"Come and sit down," Augur said breaking the moment of silence. "Do you want a drink? Tea, coffee, bear?"

"No thanks," Liam replied settling down on the cough. Augur took a seat on one of the chairs opposite him. "So what's going on Augur?" Liam asked. "On my way down I had my shuttles computer check the ANA channels there is an awful lot of coded communications flying around."

"I'm not surprised," Augur replied. "Especially considering what the ANA is doing now."

"What do you mean?"

"Hubble Urick and his cronies have completely lost it Liam," Augur replied bluntly. "They've begun wholesale arrests across the entire planet. Anyone and everyone who ever worked for or worked with the Taelons are being arrested on charges of crimes against Humanity. Most of those arrests are completely unwarranted - we both know that many people who worked with the Taelons were completely ignorant of what the Synod was really up to. In addition they are arresting people who never had anything to do with the Taelons their only 'crime' has been to criticise the ANA and its policies. But there being clever about it - their spin-doctors are working over time to convince the general population of the planet through the media that what their doing is just and that everyone will get a fair trial. The UN isn't fooled and has put out a statement basically saying that the ANA's actions are unjustified."

"How did Urick take that?" Liam asked quietly seething as he listened to what Urick and his extremist butties were doing.

"He completely ignored them. Renee went to see him to see if she could talk some sense into him."

"And?"

"And he had her arrested. Officially he's saying its because she worked for the Taelons on the co-ventures between the Synod and Doors International and is therefor party to crimes committed against Humanity."

"That's ridiculous and Urick knows it. Renee's fought for Humanities freedom for years."

"I know. But that doesn't matter to Urick. Renee criticised his current actions and for Hubble that is sufficient reason to arrest her and charge her with crimes against Humanity. I swear Liam the ANA's behaviour strikes me more of a dictatorship-style purge of opponents. There hiding it from the general population of course - most people would be appalled by what they are doing."

"They'd been even more angry if they knew what the ANA tried to do to the Taelons," Liam said.

"Why what did they do?"

"They fired thermonuclear missiles at the mothership while the Taelons were with me in Ma'el's chamber. They were attempting to destroy the mothership and kill the thousands of Taelon adults and infants in stasis on board. They would have succeeded to if Sandoval hadn't accessed the motherships propulsion systems and pulled the ship out of missile range."

"What," Augur breathed. While he was no lover of the Taelons he would stop well short of actually attempting what amounted to an act of genocide against them. And the fact that the ANA had actually gone and used highly illegal weapons as well annoyed him even more. It also worried him. "How did Zo'or and the Taelons take it?"

"Zo'or's dead," Liam replied. "Fortunately. You know as well as I do that he wouldn't have hesitated to open fire with the full power of the motherships disruptor banks. Earth would have been reduced to a few scattered asteroids in minutes."

"So who's leader now."

"It's not fully official yet. The Synod still has to meet to approve the appointment but unofficially Da'an is now the Synod Leader. And he has no intention of firing upon Earth." Augur gave a relieved sigh knowing that Liam spoke the truth. Unlike Zo'or Da'an would never fire upon Earth without a very good reason. Revenge for Hubble Urick's cowardly attack was not a good enough reason.

"So what does Da'an plan to do," Augur asked.

"At the moment the Taelons are more concerned with awakening their sleeping brethren and bringing the mothership back to full operational status for the first time in centuries. They do want to hit back at the ANA but in away that won't kill millions of innocent people."

"What do they have in mind?"

"The motherships sensors recorded the salvo's of nuclear missiles coming at her from US missile silos," Liam informed him. "If we can find information positively linking the order to fire them to the ANA then they plan on feeding that information straight into the media." Augur chuckled.

"Ohh Hubble Urick would hate that," he said laughing. "I take it you would like me to do some digging in the ANA's computer network to find that information."

"If you would and if we can also find information on what the ANA is doing to people who worked with the Taelons and those whose only crime is to oppose the ANA then we can feed that information to the media at the same time." 

Augur grinned evilly at the young hybrids thinking. If all that information was released to the media the ANA's spin-doctors would have a collective heart attack - everything they'd been saying would be exposed as the lies they were, and the public outcry that would result from such knowledge would be immense. It could conceivably sweep Hubble Urick and his cronies from power and could even lead to the break-up of the Atlantic National Alliance. Which as far as Augur was concerned wouldn't be a bad thing - the ANA had been more trouble than it was worth since it had been created, especially with its increasingly aggressive stance and more extreme anti-Taelon rhetoric which for Augur had sounded danger warnings months ago.

"Then lets go make some serious trouble for Mr Urick and the ANA," Augur said standing up and starting over to his computer. Liam smiled slightly and followed.

*****

****

ANA Detention Facility

Cascades Mountain Range

Renee Palmer paced back and forth in the small cell that she'd been thrown in. What had she been thinking by going to see Hubble like that? She should have realised what would happen, the warning signs had been there for the last couple of months. She should have seen that Hubble was drunk with the power that he now had and was determined to hold onto it. And if that meant forging evidence against his political opponents or those who questioned him and his cronies then that is what he was prepared to do. Hubble was behaving like a dictator hiding behind a façade of democracy.

Renee stopped her pacing and settled down on the narrow uncomfortable cot. _You better hope that you're made up charges stick on me Hubble,_ she thought angrily thinking of all the things she would do to Hubble Urick.

At that moment the force field door to her cell vanished and the object of her thoughts stepped into the room.

"Comfortable," Hubble Urick asked.

"What do you care Hubble," Renee snapped giving Hubble her best 'snow queen' glare. "And what do you want."

"Charming," Hubble said sarcastically. "I want some information Renee. If you give it to me then I'll let you go without charge."

"What kind of information Hubble," Renee asked though she had no intention of doing this arrogant, ungrateful son-of-a-bitch any favours. She'd helped him build the ANA without her help and the help of Doors International the Atlantic National Alliance would have found no support in the business world which would have quickly rendered it nothing but a political talking shop without any real power and easy prey for the Taelons. And how did Hubble repay her for her work on his behalf. With imprisonment when she questioned his policies. No she had no intention of doing anything for Hubble Urick. She just wanted to know what it was that he wanted.

"I want information on that bastard hybrid that led the resistance." At Renee's shocked look Hubble smirked. "Yes I know that Liam Kincaid wasn't Human. You brought him into the ANA without even bothering to tell me that he was an alien. Why?"

"You know perfectly well why," Renee snapped. "You would have done to him what the Taelons would have done. Put him in a lab and poked and prodded him like somekind of scientific curiosity not a man with all the rights any sentient being should have."

"It is where he would have belonged," Hubble growled. "He was an abomination that should not have existed. You know it is a pity that he is dead. I would have taken great delight in observing his 'questioning'." Renee snarled at the image that conjured up and leaped to her feet and backhanded Hubble hard.

"For someone who wasn't fully Human Liam acted far more like a decent Human being than you Hubble," she snarled. "He fought for Humanities freedom from the moment he was born while you and your cronies were still playing nice to the Taelons and burying your heads in the sand where it came to the Synods machinations." Hubble rubbed his cheek where the back of her hand had contacted.

"I see that you don't want to cooperate," he said. "Though I have never liked the Taelons we did learn a couple of things from them Renee. Like how to encourage someone to talk." As Hubble spoke his last words two very muscular men in combat fatigues stepped into the room. "Take her for interrogation," Hubble ordered them.

Renee didn't bother to struggle as the two men grabbed her and started to guide her from the room.

"You won't get away with treating people this way Hubble," she said in warning.

"Oh but I already have Ms Palmer," Hubble responded. "The people only see what we want them to see. As far as they know you're traitors to Humanity. Which means I can do what I like to you and others like you."

"Mark my words Hubble," Renee yelled back at him as she was led away. "What you are doing will backfire on you and the ANA shall be destroyed."

"Somehow I doubt that," Hubble yelled back in response just before Renee left earshot. There was no one who could stop him now; he had built up his power base to well. The only thing he had to fear was a public backlash if they found about what was going on and about the firing of nuclear missiles at the Taelon mothership. And he'd already made sure that that would never happen.

*****

****

Augur's Lair

A Couple of Hours Later

Augur grinned widely as the last security blocks on the ANA computer network dissolved before his icebreaker program. Augur glanced over at Liam who was lounging in a chair nursing a steaming cup of fresh coffee - after first having a shower and getting into one of the spare sets of clothes that he allowed Liam to keep here.

"I'm in," he called out to the young hybrid. Liam climbed to his feet and walked over.

"Then lets see what exactly Hubble is up to," Liam said. Augur smiled and initiated his search program looking for anything within the rather broad parameters that Liam had given him and those which he had added himself.

Almost immediately they hit the jackpot. On the screen before them was a replay of a conversation between Hubble Urick and Admiral Justin Roberts - the current chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. A conversation in which Hubble gave the orders to launch thermonuclear missiles at the Taelon mothership with the goal of destroying it while their were no Taelons on board to defend the ship and or to return fire.

"Jackpot or at least part of it," Liam commented. "Hubble Urick must be really confident in himself to put such information in the ANA's computers where certain people can get at it." Augur grinned.

"Knowing his ego I wouldn't put it past Urick to think that the information is untouchable. The guardian programs that the ANA use are pretty sophisticated - nothing to match me of course but most hackers would be stopped. For me getting around them was easy. But don't get to excited yet," Augur replied even as he transferred a copy of the information to a disc. "We still have much more digging to do if we are to find enough ammunition to destroy Hubble Urick and his pals."

"Then we best keep at it," Liam agreed.

"Oh don't worry I intend to," Augur replied. "We've all fought too long and hard for Humanities freedom for me to allow a dirty power-mad politician like Hubble Urick to take it away from us."

*****

****

Three Hours Later

Augur frowned at the information displayed on his screens. This wasn't good; Hubble Urick had gone right off the deep end for him to be doing this. On the screens before him were tables of information showing the numbers of 'traitors' that the ANA held in custody at special holding facilities - facilities that ironically used Taelon-based technologies in the form of force fields and ID portals. There were thousands of prisoners being held in those facilities - most of them innocent of any wrongdoing.

And then there was what was being done to some of the prisoners. Their were a lot of video files in the database - video files showing people being beaten by their guards, and otherwise tortured while their torturers pretended to conduct an interrogation. There were also plans here for everyone interned to be placed in sendep for decades after they'd all been interrogated - those that survived the interrogation that was, their were already reports on the ANA computer system of prisoner deaths. Augur shivered at his own memories of sensory depravation, as his dead ex-partner in crime Max Pratt had said after the first hour of you would kill for a sound or any sensation at all - even if that sensation was pain. He'd only done a month in sendep but that had been enough to last him a lifetime. He could see why most people who endured long periods in sendep went experience mad after coming out and why some became Amoralists.

"Are you alright Augur?" Liam's voice startled him and Augur realised that he'd been trembling from the memories. Augur felt a hand on his arm and he looked over to find himself meeting a pair of concerned green eyes.

"I'm okay," Augur reassured him. "It's just… Urick's got plans to put everyone he's arrested in sendep for an undesignated number of years and…"

"…You were remembering your own experiences in a sendep cell," Liam finished. Augur nodded. "Come on you've been at this for three hours straight. The computer can compile the amount of information we've gathered so far and trill for more. You are going to have a sit down."

"Liam this is to important for me to stop now. Hubble Urick must be stopped."

"I know that Augur," Liam replied. "But the computer can do some of the work for a little while. Now come and sit down." Augur sighed. 

Liam had the familiar stubborn look on his face. Augur knew from experience that Liam was impossible to move on something if he didn't want to move and it was clear from his expression that Liam wasn't going to move on this one. Augur sighed and issued the appropriate orders to his unique computer and went over to the lounge area.

Liam for his part disappeared into the kitchen for a couple of minutes, when he returned he was carrying a glass of what looked like warm milk.

"Here drink this," he instructed. Augur took it from him and cautiously sniffed it. The milk was giving off the faint smell of nutmeg and something else that he couldn't identify off the top of his head. Reluctantly Augur drank the glass and was surprised by how it seemed to immediately relax him.

"That was nice," Augur commented. "Where did you learn to make that?"

"I didn't," Liam replied. "I just remembered how. It's an old Beckett family recipe. It helps you to both relax when tense and stressed and to get to sleep whenever insomnia strikes. And it works believe you me. I've used it a number of times when I've been unable to sleep or if I'm really stressed about something and cannot go to the gym to release the tension."

"Yeah well it does work," Augur agreed leaning back and feeling the tense muscles in his neck relax, he hadn't realised that he'd gotten so wound up while reading the incoming files and the occasionally harrowing contents of some of them.

The computer emitted a sudden chime and his latest hologram pixeled into existence in her tube.

"Honey I've been detected," she reported urgently. "Someone at the ANA has begun a backtrace of our linkage to their system. Time to successfully trace one minute thirty seconds."

"Disengage the link," Augur ordered immediately getting up and racing over to the computer. "And run a full anti-viral sweep."

"Link disengaged. Only partial trace completed. Initiating anti-viral sweep." Augur's hands began dancing over the console as he began analysing how they'd been detected. "Anti-viral sweep completed no hostile virus's detected."

"That's a relief," Liam said coming over. "How were we detected Augur?"

"I don't know," Augur replied. "But I will in a minute. The dataprobe was about to enter the most highly restricted area of the ANA database; the section that dealt with their security authorisation codes and most restricted data. According to this we ran into an especially sensitive guardian program that immediately alerted ANA security to the data tap and began a back trace. Fortunately we cut the data tap to soon for them to get a fixed location. They will only know that it came from somewhere in the Washington DC area."

"Still Hubble Urick might suspect that you were behind the data tap," Liam warned. "And with the way he's currently behaving that would be enough for him to arrest you."

"Let him try. If his goons come looking for me I'll just activate the sanctuary protocol. They will have no chance of getting in here once that's active. Between the blast doors, force fields and booby traps this place is as secure as Fort Knox once that protocol is active."

"I hope your right," Liam admitted. "Now then shall we see exactly what we've managed to get out of the ANA database?"

*****

****

ANA Detention Facility

Cascades Mountain Range

Hubble Urick stood on the observation deck of the interrogation room watching the interrogation of Renee Palmer taking place below. The sound proof glass prevented him from hearing her screams - as pain bracelets and manacles stimulated her nervous system - for which he was actually grateful. It pained him having to treat Renee this way but what else could he do? He wanted information on that hybrid that had been hidden in there midst all this time - though that hybrid was now dead unless he was volcano-proof. And he needed to punish her for questioning him and ANA.

Her opposition to what he and the ANA were doing puzzled him. Those who had worked with or for the Taelons had to be punished for their crimes - they'd sold out their own people to the Taelons. And as for Liam Kincaid and any other hybrid abominations they would have to be killed before they polluted the Human gene pool with their hybrid DNA. Why couldn't Renee see that what he was doing was the only way to secure Humanities future. Yes there was going to be pain for a time. But it was necessary.

"Hubble Urick to control room," a voice said abruptly over the intercom. "Hubble Urick to the control room." Hubble frowned. _Now what,_ he thought as he left the observation room.

He entered the control room a couple of minutes later to find the place in complete pandemonium. Wallace Williamson the head of ANA security saw him enter and immediately came over.

"What's going on," Hubble demanded.

"Sir our securities been breached," Williamson reported with deceptive calm. "Someone broke into our main database and have downloaded many classified files."

"What!" Hubble exclaimed in shock. "You assured me that our computer security was impregnable."

"It should have been," Williamson responded. "The guardian programs were written by our best computer security experts. Nothing should have been able to slip by them."

"Yet someone did penetrate our security."

"Yes. Somekind of search program slipped through the guardian programs firewall without being detected. It was a highly sophisticated program. It had to have been to break through the firewall without being detected. It was only detected when it tried to access the most restricted areas of the database."

"How much data has been taken?"

"We don't know yet. The database appears to be intact. Nothing seems to be missing. It is possible that the search program merely copied the files. But we've seen no evidence of that. If it did copy the files then it's left no signs behind."

"Can you tell where the program came from?" Hubble asked. He had a pretty good idea who could be behind it. There were only about a dozen people who could create a computer search program as sophisticated as the one that had broken into their database.

"Not exactly," Williamson replied. "The program deleted itself a few seconds after it was detected and blocked any attempt at a full backtrace. We only know that it came from somewhere in the Washington DC area." _Augur it has to be,_ Hubble thought, _though why would he want to break into our database in such a manner? Augur is generally more concerned about his own financial situation. He doesn't just break into databases like ours for fun._

"I think I know who might be behind it," he said softly.

"Who?"

"A hacker who sometimes worked with the resistance. He calls himself Augur."

"The Seer?" Hubble nodded. "But why would he want to break into our database?"

"I don't know," Hubble admitted. "He generally only works for his own financial benefits. He only worked with the resistance when it suited him usually if there was something in it for him. He's good, very good."

"We should bring him in for questioning."

"Yes. But that will not be easy. He lives in a fortified former resistance base given to him by Jonathan Doors after he ran for the presidency. The base is located under St Michaels Church. Getting access to it is nearly impossible. But we can try. Send an arrest team to St Michaels. Tell them to get access to Augur's Lair by any means necessary. They are to arrest Augur and anyone there with him - someone has to be paying him for him to do this - and bring them here for 'questioning'."

"Yes sir I will send the team personally."

"Good. Then get me a full assessment of what information was stolen from the database if that's possible."

"Yes sir."

Hubble left Williamson to do his bidding and went to sit in his office. After closing the door behind him he sat down in the chair behind his desk. This was a dangerous development. The fact that someone - presumably Augur - had hacked into their database was bad enough - there was so much sensitive information there. But if that person were to feed that information to the media then the repercussions for himself and the ANA could be catastrophic. It simply couldn't be allowed to happen. But he couldn't do any damage control or prevention until he knew precisely what had been stolen. And by then it could be too late. _I'll get you for this Augur,_ he thought angrily, _if you are the one behind this and I don't know who else it could be. When I get through with you, you shall be begging for a quick death._

*****

****

Augur's Lair

Half Hour Later

Augur finished transferring the last of the downloaded data to a high-density memory disk. There was now enough information on that disk to spell the beginning of the end for Hubble Urick and the Atlantic National Alliance. Some of the data was horrific - detailing the interogations being done on the prisoners though it didn't name any names. 

Both himself and Liam had been horrified when they'd realised what Hubble could actually be doing to Renee just because she had criticised him and his policies. Liam had actually gotten so angry that for a number of minutes his shaqarava had glowed like two tiny suns. It had taken Augur nearly five minutes to calm him down enough for Liam to get a grip on the fiery Irish temper he had inherited from his mother and stop his shaqarava from glowing.

"I'm finished," he said softly turning to look at the young hybrid as he picked up the disk and gave it to Liam. "Here's all the information that we've been able to acquire."

"Thank you," Liam said taking the disk from Augur. "I won't forget this Augur."

"Skip it. I want to see Hubble Urick stopped as much as you do. Giving this information to the Taelons and them giving it to the media is the best way of accomplishing that. I just hope that Da'an appreciates it."

"I am sure that he will Augur." 

Before Augur could reply the security subsystems gave a sharp bleep.

"Shit," Augur said accessing the security scanners.

"What is it?" Liam asked.

"The ANA has sent an arrest team. Their in the church above. I'm going to initate the sanctuary protocol you'll have to use the portal to get out."

"Okay I'll go to the Washington Embassy and from their to the mothership," Liam replied. "Before we went to the regeneration chamber the Taelons locked down all their embassies. I was only able to dock my shuttle at the embassy because Da'an sent a signal to embassy computer to let me land their. Urick and his extremist pals have no chance of getting in there."

"Good luck Liam," Augur said as Liam climbed up onto the portal platform. As soon as Liam was between the portal arches Augur activated the portal and sent Liam on his way. Then he turned to the computer displays. The ANA team would find the DNA scanner soon. "Computer initiate sanctuary protocol. Full isolation."

"Sanctuary protocol initiated." Heavy blast shields appeared over the doors sealing the lair off from the outside world. Another set of blast doors sealed the lift shaft. Force fields activated to back them up and all booby traps were armed. Internal ventilation systems activated as the external intakes were closed. "All security systems activated."

Augur sighed and went to sit down in his living area. He would have plenty of time to get out if the ANA came close to breaching his security perimeter. But he doubted that they would and he was fully prepared to stay down here until the truth about the ANA was broken to the world. Which would not be long now.

To be continued….

___________________________________________________________________________________________

That's the end of this second episode. The story continues in episode three coming soon.


End file.
